17:00 1/9/2012 Promenading at the banks of Khlong Hae Floating Market (ตลาดน้ำคลองแห) was one of our exhilarating moment during our Hatyai trip last year. All we care was hunting some authentic Thai food and tick off one by one on our list. Tom Yum is on top of that, a delectable sour-spicy soup which is synonymous with Thailand. We have been longing to taste the authentic treat from the time we savor this food, way back home. And our experience in Khlong Hae Floating Market never failed our expectation. It give us much of a good introduction of what we can anticipate more of Thai delicacy.
Flashing a big smile to every one who pass by on the river bank was the routine of floating vendor in Khlong Hae Market (ตลาดน้ำคลองแห).
Smile is indeed a powerful tool when attracting customers which magically lures them (including us) to her boat and made order her specialty, Tom Yum (ต้มยำ).
While she was busy prepping our order, we took closer and inspect what are the key ingredient on this delectable food. Different type of noodles, cilantro leaves, crush chili peppers, octopus meat, cook shrimp, fish balls, Tom Yum paste and base soup.
She let us choose what type of noodle before she put the base soup, then the tom yum paste mixture.
Then she pass on the bowl to her partner, who puts a generous amount of toppings and made sure it was evenly distributed on the bowl. Khob-kun! ขอบคุณ (Thank You)
Then voila, our instant Authentic Tom Yum Noodle Soup, for 20 Baht. Time to test on our taste buds.
The fresh cilantro leaves garnish made this sour spicy soup more appetizing. We could taste the natural sourness of tamarind from it’s paste and the mild spiciness of ground chili peppers. Whoa, every sip is taste of heaven not that fiery spicy. Enough to give you a kick and sweat on your forehead. After tasting the Authentic Tom Yum, our affection with the instant ones was completely gone. We’re so glad that we tick off the top food on our list. It’s indeed a must try when visiting Thailand and can’t wait to go back this year. Sawadee!
Foodie Couple,
Sky and Summer
I want to try that!
Tom Yum soup definitely holds a place in my heart. The taste is a mix of spicy and sour goodness that I often crave for.
I haven't tried this soup and given a chance, I would love to try it in Bangkok where they make the authentic ones. 😀
i never tried eating in food market by the river. i'll visit this place and try their food soon!
Not just in BKK but Thailand as a whole. 🙂
Yes, you should tried it, it's like Streetfood in Phils sans river and boat 🙂
Include us, and just did a home made one yesterday. 🙂
Go ahead and try it!
wow! haven't experience buying food from floating markets in thailand before.. now that's the authentic thai food experience.. my fav thai food is pad thai and i know floating markets sell them too 🙂
Thai food invites my curiosity. I want to eat some of them and find out for myself on how they differ from our local foods. In our place, we call our unique and exclusive cooked food as original. There in Thailand, the Thais call them as authentic or it is just how you describe Tom Yum. My taste buds are too eager to savor this authentic Tom Yum.
I would love to have an experience like how you have shared it here. I love Tom Yum, though the ones we had are very spicy.
Just call them Authentic to distinguish our previous Tom Yum experience.
We tried so hard looking for Pad Thai during that trip, but luck wasn't our side.
You can opt to have it less or medium spicy, but less spicy for Thais are super spicy for us.
I love spicy noodles. I am curious how spicy Tom Yum is.
I have no definite answer on that, since spiciness is subjective to different people.
Wow, what an experience that would be to eat by the river.
I'm not really into spicy foods, but since you like the food, I'm sure that tasted good.
When was the last time I ate Thai food? I can't remember anymore, your post reminds me to check out Thai foods here in Davao City.
Oh my it looks so delicious! I love thai food too. We explore restaurants (with my bf) 🙂
Wow! Now this is an authentic Thai food experience! 😀 I love tom yum and pad thai. Hoping I'll be able to get a taste of them from floating markets too when I visit Thailand in the future.
YUM!!! My taste buds are actually craving for the sourness and spiciness of just looking at your photo and for 20 baht, that's truly an authentic treat!